Susan Plagemann: Resident Publisher For Vogue

Transcription

1 VOGUE EN Susan Plagemann: Resident Publisher For Vogue Insider Tips For Surviving The Concrete Jungle Of NYC How To Snag Your Dream Publishing Job With A Journalism Degree Marlow Reese En Vogue: April 2014-vol. I photo by Sebastian Kim

2 EN VOGUE: a glimpse into the world of Vogue magazine 2

3 Introduction Table of Contents On The Cover Susan Plagemann, editor of Vogue (see pg 8) Letter From the Editor 4 Photo (above): April, 2014 issue of Vogue magazine, online Introduction 5 Vogueing in Manhattan 6 Insider tips for living in NYC Publishing Palooza 8 Journalism in the magazine world LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 4 Vogue Takeover 10 Global prominence of Vogue magazine Conclusion 11 References 12 Photo (right): comparison between Vogue editor Anna Wintour (pictured above) and the film Devil Wears Prada Magazines are a journalism medium seen everywhere around the world. Newsstands, supermarkets, and convenience stores offer a slew of options depending on what the consumer s interests or hobbies are. The homemaker may want Good Housekeeping, the car enthusiast would turn to Car and Driver, but for the fashion worshipper, Vogue magazine is the ultimate guide and look-book. The Vogue empire spans the nation and the globe; documentaries and films have been made paying homage to the staff of Vogue, as well as Photo from Twitter.com/CondeElevator higlighting how the magazine is pieced together. It is my hope that this project gives information about the magazine itself, what working in the publishing department for a magazine entails, and how to survive the concrete jungle of New York City. This project shows how to use a Journalism-based degree to obtain a job in a highly ranked magazine. Postcards from Vogue: 100 Iconic Covers By Vogue Editors The degree of strategic communications opens up a world of opportunity for a college student in the 21st Century. This degree leads to the development of multiple skills in several fields such as marketing, advertising, journalism, business, and many others. This project focuses on Vogue magazine specifically on how to get a job within the magazine that utilizes a strategic communications degree, what living in New York in order to work for the magazine would entail, and the impact that the publication has on the world. The world of fashion is constantly changing and evolving as trends arise; journalists are vital in order to create stories and articles that showcase the current lines from prominent designers or artists. This project will also give a glimpse into the inner-workings of a magazine such as which position produces each component within a single issue of Vogue. Additionally, this project will show what it would be like to live in New York City; it will tell where the best housing is on a budget, tips on commuting, and other information that allows someone to embrace urban life to the fullest. The goal for this research project is not only to give an insider scoop on how to get a dream job at a top magazine like Vogue, but also to give a new perspective on the lifestyle that comes with working for this magazine and the possibilities that are intertwined with this publication. This research project will show how a journalism degree with a major in strategic communications can be used practically and thoroughly within Vogue magazine. 5

4 Vogueing in Manhattan Photo by James Petrille, Flickr 2011 Vogueing: verb ( vogues, vogueing or voguing, vogued ) [ no obj. ] dance to music in such a way as to imitate the characteristic poses struck by a model on a catwalk. [1980s: from the name of the fashion magazine Vogue.] Carrie Bradshaw, the main character of Sex and the City, said of Vogue, When I first moved to New York and I was totally broke, sometimes I would buy Vogue instead of dinner. I felt it fed me more (Carrie Bradshaw, n.d.). This sentiment shows the role that Vogue plays in the lives of its subscribers as well as in the fashion industry. Although the magazine in The Devil Wears Prada was not Vogue, the experiences that Anne Hathaway s character went through mimic those of actual interns for the magazine; working for Vogue requires a vast amount of hard work and diligence according to former Vogue intern Emily Sanchez (Berger, n.d.). For many, working for Vogue is the dream job; interning for Vogue is both highly anticipated and dreaded due to the immense workload and long hours that interns for the magazine endure (Mau, 2012). The Twitter handle Conde Elevator (shown below) uses Twitter to tweet the conversations overhead on the elevator up to the Vogue offices in the Condé Nast building (Hutchinson, 2011). This account gives the outside world a brief yet satirical look into the world of Vogue employees and the day-to-day situations that they face. The prospective Vogue employee must learn to navigate the streets of New York on a budget, survive the workload that a Vogue intern or beginning employee faces, and keep in mind that Vogue is a pinnacle magazine among the fashion industry. 6 Vogue magazine is globally considered one of the pinnacle magazines within the fashion industry. The headquarters for Vogue magazine is located in the middle of New York City in Times Square. Condé Nast, the publishing house for Vogue, houses Vogue s offices as well as several other magazines (CondeNast.com, 2014). The world of Vogue has been critiqued, analyzed, idolized, and even been used as a model of sorts for the movie The Devil Wears Prada (Frankel, 2006). The film shows the transformation that an ambitious journalism graduate undergoes while working for a magazine company in New York as an assistant to an editor that is said to resemble Vogue s own Anna Wintour (Mau, 2012). The city of New York is iconic and legendary, but also requires a certain amount of clever logic and smart budgeting in order to save what little money a job-seeking individual possesses. The cost of living in Manhattan is the highest of any urban neighborhood in the United States (Dee, 2013). New York realty is also higher than the majority of states, so it is important to find housing within monetary mean. This may lead to hiring a professional service to find housing that is affordable, but in the end the affordable housing in the middle of New York City will be worth the cost of hiring a potentially pricey service to scout out inexpensive housing solutions for modest budgets. Even in the movie The Devil Wear Prada, the main character, played by actress Anne Hathaway, lives in a smaller apartment outside of the city and commutes into work via the subway in order to save money. According to New York Magazine, if someone rides the subway two times a day that equals a total of $4 and yearly equals approximately $1000 (NYMag, 2008). If someone takes a cab every day for a year, it equals approximately $6000 at the end of the year. The technologically connected world of the 21st century is rife with tips, guides, and blogs on how to live life to the fullest in a city such as New York (NYMag, 2008; Steel, n.d.). Times Square, the location of the Vogue offices, is a center of constant activity; the neon signs, steady stream of pedestrian traffic, and all of the stores and shops earned New York City the title of The City That Never Sleeps. The world of fashion is constantly shifting and reinventing itself. Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, joined Vogue in 1988; she was unprecedented in the covers that she created for the magazine (CondeNast.com). Vogue has been in songs, such as Madonna s 1990 hit song Vogue, and referenced in popular television shows such as Sex and the City. Aerial view of the Condé Nast Building in 4 Times Square, New York, New York Photo by Pascal Lebègue This still of Madonna is from the music video of her iconic song Vogue. This song brought the word Vogue into popular and everyday conversation during the 1990s. Photo from Twitter.com

5 Publishing Palooza The creation of a magazine such as Vogue is a multi-step process that involves a team of editors, publishers, writers, photographers, and several others piecing together their areas of expertise to form each issue of a publication. Facts about Vogue Magazine 8 Susan Plagemann is the vice-president and publisher of Vogue magazine; her responsibilities as a publisher involve making Vogue magazine a success, both editorially and commercially (CondeNast.com-Bio, 2014, Linton, n.d.). Article Duties of a Magazine Publisher states, Magazine publishers must have a good knowledge of the marketplace and strong editorial experience (Linton, n.d., p. 1). Susan Plagemann has been at Vogue magazine since 2010, but before she became the vice-president and publisher of Vogue, she held the position of VP and publisher at Marie Claire magazine, as well as Lifetime magazine, and before that, she was the publisher for Cosmopolitan magazine (CondeNast.com- Bio, n.d.). The publisher of a magazine also is in charge of hiring a team of writers, editors, and Vogue was founded in 1892 by Arthur Baldwin Turnure photographers that he or she deems fit to create the magazine that the audience will want to read. A job within a fashion magazine such as Vogue does not necessarily require a specific sort of degree from a college or university; however, it is useful to have a background in journalism, It s true, creativity comes from an innate instinct that recognizes what s beautiful... -Franca Sozanni, Vogue Italia Editor Photo by Bloomberg TV research, editing, and an interest in the world of fashion (Fashion Journalist, n.d.). Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozanni says that it is important to be well versed in culture when working for a magazine (Sozanni, 2011). Sozanni advises someone pursuing a career in the fashion world to study and learn a wide variety of topics such as literature, philosophy, and especially photography and fashion history. She claims about fashion and design, It s true, creativity comes from an innate instinct that recognizes what s beautiful (Sozanni, 2011, p. 1). Additionally, she advises beginning with an internship in order to learn the mechanisms of the publication and assist in the transition process into the workforce. Before Anna Wintour, magazines typically only showed the model s face. Anna featured three quarters of a model s body on the cover of Vogue and changed magazines thereafter Susan Plagemann(left) with Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour (right). Photo by Neil Rasmus-BFA NYC Actress Meryl Streep s character in moviethe Devil Wears Prada is somewhat based on editor-in-chief Anna Wintour Maintaining a job in a fashion magazine also calls for the ability to communicate effectively and well with a variety of people as well as readily available to conduct interviews, sometimes candidly (Fashion Journalist, n.d.). Working for a magazine is not for the faint of heart. The article The Magazine Production Process says that the average magazine issue takes roughly three months to produce, in contrast to newspapers which are produced in up to twenty-four hours (The Magazine Production Process, 2013). The first step of creating a magazine is setting a publication date; after this date has been set, a schedule can be created and deadlines for each aspect of the magazine can be put into place. The publisher of a magazine is responsible for ensuring that the staff is making deadlines with their content and making the executive decisions on what content makes it into the magazine or what content is pulled from the publication (Lee, n.d.). Magazine publishers also take responsibility for any discrepancies or questions brought up in regard to the content of his or her magazine; this course of action usually requires a defense of the matter in question or an apology. The next step in the creation of a magazine issue is deciding what is going into that specific edition (The Magazine Production Process, 2013). This task falls on the publisher but also the team of editors, writers, and photographers. Following this step is the acquisition of content, then sub-editing the quality of the content matter, after that step is the creation of page layouts as well as proof-reading the copy and content of each layout, and finally, ing the pages to a printer for the final proof-reads and corrections before distributing the finalized editions to the public. One of the most important duties as a magazine publisher is networking (Lee, n.d.) This means attending local, national, or even global events to create relationships with important designers, photographers, companies, or even well known staff for other popular magazines. Participation in interviews, such as the interview of Susan Plagemann (seen above left, page 8), is also important to spread a magazine s reputation and credibility. A magazine publisher is a well-rounded individual with expertise and renown, one who takes charge over a magazine and excels at building his or her publication s content, readability, and increases the overall rates for the magazine. (From left to right) Harper s Bazaar publisher Valerie Salembier, Bally CEO Frédéric de Narp, and Vogue s publisher Susan Plagemann at an event in New York City. Photo by Neil Rasmus-BFA NYC Model and actress Lauren Hutton (right) holds the record for appearing on the cover of Vogue more than any other person. She has been featured 28 times! Susan Plagemann with Dr. William Fung at the 2010 Parsons Fashion Photo by Rob Loud-Getty Images *All facts and information above can be found at LifestyleLounge.com

6 Photo by Art & Science Journal VOGUE TAKEOVER 10 V ogue magazine has been called The Fashion Bible, a fashion hand- book, and even the pinnacle fashion magazine (Vogue Magazine Micro Media Kit, n.d.). Vogue set the standard for fashion magazines and has been prevalent for over 100 years. Created by Arthur Baldwin Turnure in 1892, Vogue magazine has always set itself apart with its innovation, unprecedented creativity, and artistic vision (History of Vogue Magazine, 2014). Vogue both represents and targets cultural sophistication, especially aimed toward women. Before Anna Wintour came to Vogue as editor-in-chief, magazines portrayed the face of the cover s model; Ms. Wintour featured three-quarters of the model, thus emphasizing the clothing and fashion instead of only the model s face. The 2007 September issue of U.S. Vogue magazine broke the record for the largest edition published; the documentary The September Issue by director R.J. Cutler shows some Photo by Mark Vessey Vogue immerses itself in fashion, always leading readers to what will happen next. Thought-provoking, relevant and Vogue fashion -Condé Nast, Vogue s publishing house of the work that the Vogue staff does in order to create the largest edition of Vogue printed each year (Cutler, 2009). The issue sets the tone for the fall fashion season and over half of the issue is composed of advertisements from top fashion designers and brands. Conde Nast s website for Vogue says of the magazine, The foundation of Vogue s leadership and authority is the brand s unique role as a cultural barometer for a global audience. Vogue places fashion in the context of culture and the world we live in how we dress, live and socialize; what we eat, listen to and watch; who leads and inspires us. Vogue immerses itself in fashion, always leading readers to what will happen next. Thought-provoking, relevant and always influential,vogue defines the culture of fashion (Condenast.com, 2014, p. 1). Photo from CondeNast.com-Vogue Media Kit the form of a printed magazine, but also online through the Vogue website, in the form of an application for Androids, iphones, ipads, tablets, Nooks, and many other devices (CondeNast.com). A media kit is a tool that represents the magazine or publications numbers such as the circulation of the magazine, the average demographic, and rates for the magazine. Vogue offers a media kit for print, web, and tablet on their webpage (shown bottom of page 10). The average circulation is 1,246, 765 issues per year, the average demographic for the publication is a 37.8 year old female reader, and the rate for advertising on one page, one time within the magazine is $181,286. Vogue offers a media kit for print, web, and tablet on their webpage (shown bottom of page 10). The average circulation is 1,246, 765 issues per year, the average demographic for the publication is a 37.8 year old female reader, and the rate for one page, one time within the magazine is $181,286. The information graphic, featured to the right, shows the importance of companies appealing to their audiences by going online or creating online sites with information on their publications (Art &Science, 2013). Vogue magazine and the staff of Vogue are consistent with all of the data that this graph depicts; Vogue is accessible anytime, anywhere through its many applications and even online subscriptions. Vogue magazine is not limited to the U.S. and has the same loyal following across the globe (CondeNast.com). Vogue magazine is a top magazine within the fashion industry and continues to be in the forefront of fashionable innovations each day. Conclusion The Vogue is among, if not the best fashion magazine in the fashion magazine industry as a whole. The headquarters for this fashion forerunner is located in the heart of the concrete jungle of New York City. For the aspiring fashion journalist, moving to Manhattan means making the most of savings; New York is glamorous but it costs to live in The City That Never Sleeps. By budgeting and pursuing online blogs, columns, and guides to frugality within the city, a job-seeking individual can conquer New York without breaking the bank. Those that are pursuing a publishing job in a magazine such as Vogue should be prepared to put forth blood, sweat, and possibly tears in order to work their way into the fashion magazine business. Most people start off as interns and learn the how-to s of the industry before moving upwards and onwards. As the movie The Devil Wears Prada showed, it actually is possible to move forward after starting off small within an industry, just maybe not as glamorous as Anne Hathaway s path. The aspiring magazine publisher should have a background in writing or editing, a knowledge of fashion, perseverance, and the drive to pursue the dream of living and working in New York, New York.

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